Person

Varney, Edwin, 1942-

1942-

Edwin Varney, also known as Big Dada, was born on October 16, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York.

He is a Canadian writer, critic, publisher, artist, book and stamp designer, public art manager, and labourer. He graduated from Syracuse University (B.A.; M.A.) and came to Vancouver, British Columbia, as a draft evader in 1968. He joined the multimedia artists collaborative group Intermedia and founded Intermedia Press in 1969 as its publishing arm. Between 1969 and 1981, Intermedia Press published 55 books of poetry and 50 novels, short story collections, anthologies, and trade books. He was one of the founding members of the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Literary Press Group. Varney was also founding editor of the Poem Company (1970-1974), a member of the Vancouver Poetry Front (1970-1971), one of Canada's earliest collaborative poetry performance groups, and the founder of the Intermedia Video Band (1970-1972). His interest in sound and concrete poetry led him to explore various innovative approaches to the visual presentation of poetry which found a receptive audience in South America and Europe. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and exhibitions. Varney was the founder of the Vancouver Poetry Co-op (1973-1975), a member of the Vancouver Poetry Quartet (1977-1978), and the Vancouver Surrealist Group (1979-1993). In the 1980s, he became increasingly involved in the visual arts, serving on the organizing committee of Artropolis (1984-2003) and the board of numerous art galleries and arts organizations. He was a founding editor of Bite poetry magazine (1985-1988), and in 1991, he and Carolyn Zonailo founded the Poem Factory (1991-2003). His visual art appeared in over 300 exhibitions in 35 countries. He is the author of several books of poetry, including "Openings" (1969), "Summer Songs" (1971), "Human Nature" (1974), “What the Wind Said” (1991), and “Bird” (2011). He lives in Royston on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.